AT Europe: Amsterdam - Noordermarkt Flea Market

Monday mornings in the Jordaan a funky weekly flea market known as the Noordermarkt sets up shop on a cafe-lined square alongside the Prinsengracht canal, as it has in one form or another since 1616...

On a rainy morning visit a few months ago, brightly colored 1970s ponchos were piled next to stacks of blue-and-white Dutch china, baskets of animal horns, castaway Madonna statues, furniture and other surprisingly inexpensive second-hand Dutch goods. Be sure to get there early, and don't forget to try some of the city's most famous apple pie -- with an enormous dollop of piped whipped cream -- at the nearby Winkel cafe. Saturday mornings there is an excellent organic farmer's market in the same spot.